


Bleeding Hearts

by marionclarke



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Dark Percy, Dead Annabeth Chase, Hurt Percy, Jason Grace & Percy Jackson Bromance, Multi, Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson Friendship, Original Character(s), Percy Being an Idiot, Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson), Protective Percy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23696164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marionclarke/pseuds/marionclarke
Summary: After all the wars, Percy Jackson falls down a road of self-destruction. With more free time comes the time to recognize and accept - including the death of Annabeth Chase, his best friend and first love.He's lost.Carmel, the infamous daughter of Hades, can't seem to shake him out of her head. Ever since they went down Tartarus together, a part of her has belonged to him - and she can't stand seeing him in pain. Empathy feels weird for a child of death, but feeling the need to help him is weirder.Will Carmel be able to push aside her own troubles and bandage his bleeding heart?
Relationships: Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Percy Jackson/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 7





	Bleeding Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya :)
> 
> First off, thank you for clicking. 
> 
> I've recently had this urge to write a story about Percy because, honestly, people love the side characters so much - including myself - that they forget the brilliance that is Percy's sassy and idiotic remarks. He's honestly such a great protag in the sense that nobody hates him viciously like in other fantasy novels so here's my tribute.
> 
> Hope you enjoy and lmk your thoughts :)

Aphrodite stormed in, fair hair startled by the coldness of the room. Her crystal eyes were wide as she looked between the Olympian gods, their eyes focused on an intricate map. “Something is coming,” she declared, her voice oddly saccharine.

Zeus clenched his jaw. “What is it that you believe is coming? We cannot tolerate this nonsense any longer, Aphrodite. We’ve duties to fulfill.”

“Let her speak, Brother,” Poseidon encouraged, nodding to the beautiful goddess.

Aphrodite still looked startled. When her eyes landed on Poseidon, vivid fires spurted in her vision. It was like an image—a prophecy of the future. She was no Apollo, but her love senses were just as strong as his Oracles.

She focused on the vision. Percy Jackson…and…a…girl… _oh, darn it, not a boy…_ but—oh, she was _adorable_! The goddess was overwhelmed with butterflies just at the mere thought of the pairing.

“Percy Jackson,” Aphrodite continued, a smile beaming across her face. The gods perked up at the mention of his name. “Percy Jackson is next in line for one of the greatest love stories in history.”

There was a long tantalizing silence.

Zeus sighed. “Please take your stories elsewhere, Aphrodite.”

Hephaestus looked sheepish.

Hermes cracked a cheeky smile. “Percy Jackson. Kid deserves it.”

Apollo snorted loudly. “Wait, seriously? Hohoho, my man Perseus has got game! And I thought Annie was cute—”

Athena glared at him.

The pain of hearing her dead daughter’s name was hidden behind her calculating gray orbs. Annabeth Chase, although one of the greatest heroes to go down in demigod history, had been killed on a quest. It had been a year, but Annabeth—although Athena would never admit it—was one of her greatest achievements.

“Sorry,” Apollo murmured sincerely.

“Annabeth was a darling, Athena. And her and Percy were most definitely in love,” Aphrodite clarified. “But this…”

“What?” Poseidon pressed, the word coming out louder than he meant for it to.

“My love scale says they are soulmates,” Aphrodite whispered. “Like Leo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet, but better. Meant and born for each other—truly.”

“Who is she?”

Aphrodite paused at the question. Her gaze flicked to the fire adorning the room in the corner. The gods followed her gaze, watching as specks of flame burbled from the fire. Annabeth had always remarked that the fire was too close to the carpet, though this one spat no further than the stone surrounding. It was as though the fire had suppressed itself. No—as though it had willingly, happily, given in.

Aphrodite’s eyes widened.

“Aphrodite?”

The goddess pursed her lips, hiding her smile. “I’m not too sure.”

She seemed to be locked in a daydream. Poseidon narrowed his eyes at her, not seeming to believe her, but she turned casually out of the room before he could question her further. There was an awkward silence before Apollo whistled a brief tune.

“Drama…” Apollo sang, the gods glaring at him. He laughed triumphantly at their irritated reactions, continuing to doodle on the map.

**⤳**

Carmel watched as the boy stumbled blankly towards the camp. The firelight illuminated his features, the green in his eyes dimmer.

“Percy…” she murmured. It wasn’t often that Carmel was sympathetic towards people, being a daughter of Hades, but there was something in his dead expression that tugged at her heartstrings.

His eyes flicked to her, surprised, but he didn’t flinch. He didn’t so as move forward.

Nobody at camp had noticed he was back but her. The Apollo kids drew all the younger campers in, swaying them around the campfire, as they burst into song; all the other campers ate quickly that evening and retreated to their respective cabins, the game of Capture the Flag proving to be unusually hard with some Camp Jupiter demigods staying over.

Then, tearing his eyes from hers, Percy Jackson strode away. He wasn’t even going to tell everyone he was back; he wasn’t even going to tell Chiron that, after a week of being God-knows-where, he was alive.

That’s it.

Carmel followed his shadowy figure. She didn’t make her presence a secret, letting the cobble crunch under her feet as she followed him past the array of cabins. He passed the Ampitheater and took a turn, where she ended up trailing along the coastline of the Canoe Lake.

Suddenly, Percy stopped, sitting down. He looked into the water, the blankness of his face remaining.

Carmel sat next to him.

He turned his eyes to her for a moment before looking back out.

“So what are you doing, stalker?” he asked, the cheek in his voice lost by the dimness of his expression.

“Stopping you from going on another week-long journey of self-destruction,” I replied.

“Listen, babe, I appreciate the sentiment,” he said, trying a smile, “but I need to be alone for now.”

“You don’t appreciate anything right now—not even your own life,” I muttered. “So I’m gonna follow you, wherever you go. Go on.”

He raised his brows. “Sure about that?”

“Positive.”

“Alright then,” he said, his smile widening.

Percy got into the water.

_Dammit. He knows I hate swimming._

Sighing, Carmel began to take her jacket off and then her right shoe—

She was yanked into the water before she could finish. She yelped; Percy reached out for her as she kicked her legs pathetically in the water. It was deep—and she hated deep water.

“I hate you,” she hissed, slapping a small wave of water into his face.

He laughed loudly. “Oh, baby, you don’t wanna do that.”

“Oh, yes, I do,” she snickered, throwing another wave at him. He pushed back the water back at her with a flick of his finger. “And stop calling me that!” she demanded, snorting water and rubbing her palm over her face trying to get it out.

“What can I say?” he murmured, moving closer. His hands found her waist as he balanced her in front of him in the water. “I can’t help it.”

Their faces were only inches apart. The moonlight illuminated his classically handsome features. If not for the shadow cast over his usually vibrant sea-green eyes, he would have looked normal.

“Percy,” Carmel started, putting her hand on his chest to steady herself. “Where have you been for the past week?”

He groaned. “I’m really not in the mood to be yelled at.”

“That’s good, because I’m not a yeller,” she murmured, looking him dead in the eye. “Where have you been? Everyone’s been looking for you. I knew you weren’t dead—I could feel it—but that didn’t stop the entire camp from going insane. We even got Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper and Leo to come help find you.”

I called them to come as soon as I found out Percy was missing. Piper told me he’d show up eventually, but the sadness in Jason’s eyes told me that this was beyond serious. I knew what it was about.

Annabeth Chase.

We weren’t close, but I knew she meant a lot to Percy. They started dating only a few months before she died on quest. She was his best friend.

And then I was chosen for the Prophecy of Seven, where Percy was too distracted with saving the world to grieve her. It was like his grieving was delayed—and after saving the world, after coming out of Tartarus with me, going to hell and back with me, he was finally feeling it.

Everything.

“So the old man sticks to his word,” Percy chuckled softly. His amusement faded back into that emotionless expression. “I was with my dad. I told him not to say anything to anyone. He led me to Navagio, an exposed cove on the coast of Zakynthos, Greece. The water is nice there. The weather’s better too.”

There was a long silence.

I flicked his forehead.

He winced, rubbing his forehead. “What the Hades? I thought you said—”

“I said nothing about physical pain, Jackson,” I interrupted. “And are you an idiot? You went for a beach vacation in Greece? Okay, fair enough, you’re the prince of the sea and you needed cheering up. But at least tell me, you imbecile.”

He smiled softly, looking me in the eye. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Don’t do it again.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you, Mel.”

Carmel’s face tinted red. “Not just me. All of us.”

“I know,” he breathed, cupping my cheek in his hand. “I’m sorry.”

For a while, they held each other in the water—okay, so mostly Percy did the holding—as they stared at each other. It was quiet, but she didn’t mind it. There was something in that silence, as she tempted his eyes to brighten, that said more than if they were talking.

He was hurting.

Even if he didn’t want to admit it.

Their heartbeats matched as Percy moved closer. Carmel blushed when she felt his lips graze the nape of her neck, where he put his chin. She reached up to run a hand through his messy hair, her other hand resting on his shoulder. They lay there for a long time, the familiarity of each other seeming to calm him.

“Do you still have dreams of it?” he murmured next to her ear.

She knew what he was referring to.

Carmel hardened, her nails raking into his shoulder for a moment. She relaxed them, and breathed, “Every day.”

Tartarus was easily the worst experience of her life. She had entered and left hell with Percy, bleeding, suffocating, blisters bubbling at their skin. He was the only person to have ever seen her cry—wail—for her life. There was nothing more painful than not death itself, but the constant, tedious torture. Tartarus was a repeat of the seconds before death, full of guilt and struggle and the anger to stop before it was too late.

Nightmares were inevitable.

She would picture falling into that deep abyss for the week and a half that they did. She would picture those heart-dropping moments before her legs shattered, where Percy quickly pulled under them a blanket of water.

Being with Percy, she’d noticed, helped her sleep.

There was a part of him that belonged to her and a part of her that belonged to him; they knew each other so well that even Carmel, the ‘evil demigod disciple of Hades’, could feel his pain. Tenfold, even.

“You should tell Chiron you’re alive and back,” she coughed, carefully detaching her hands from his hair. “And the rest of the camp.”

“And cause a scene right before curfew?”

“The Percy Jackson I know doesn’t care about curfew.”

He smiled slightly. “Then I’d hope he’s still there.”


End file.
